My Descent into Slavery Ch. 16

"Is that the intent of letting my father take me to the club?"

"I have no intent, I merely offered an observation to your father when I told him to take you. I can no longer go after my marriage. Lynn is taking Beth, and Björn is taking Belle."

"Why can't I take Beth?" Sahar asked.

"Is Sahar a Dominant, Beth?" Master asked. "And more importantly, can we trust her not to kill anyone if I let her go at all?"

"She's on the Dominant side of neutral, sir. Mostly she's just a bossy bitch, which is not the same as a Dominant. In fact, she whacked my ass every time I addressed her as Mistress in The Bahamas. The second part of the question is more nuanced. She can recognize willing submissives, but it might be a different story if we ran across a real slave."

"The laws of this country are pretty strict regarding 'real' slavery, Sahar. If you call 911, you should be able to rescue any unwilling slaves without resorting to the death penalty for the perpetrator. Will you promise to call the police if you run across an illegal slave?"

"If the slave is in no immediate danger, and if she is, I'll only break a couple limbs."

Master laughed. "Beth might have to suck a few cocks or get fucked a couple times. Would you have a problem with that?"

"How was she going to do that if I didn't go? Beth would have gotten sick."

"I was thinking of you giving blanket permission to fuck anyone for a few hours. We should probably test that out anyway, and see if you have to give individual permission for everyone. Fine, you can go with, but you're not really a Dominant, so we'll let Lynn handle the Mistress side of the equation. As for you, Francesca, I'm not expecting you to fuck Frank, but I don't have a particular problem with you doing so if it's not a violation of the law. I haven't a clue as to what Frank might request, but it's the reason you have a safe word. What you do is up to you."

It was quite the thoughtful group of people that fucked themselves to exhaustion that evening. Is it okay for me to admit that I was a little turned on that Francesca could fuck her father if he stayed away from her pussy?

******

Before we left the ship, I made sure all of our freed slaves had their shopping lists and debit cards with them. All except Fatima, who didn't need to make this trip as she'd been raised in Spain all of her life before she was taken.

"What does this card do?" Hibbah asked. "Is this what we use to take money out of the bank?"

"You don't withdraw money out of a bank unless you need it for some purpose other than going to a store," I said. "You present this to the cashier, and they withdraw money out of your accounts equivalent to what you just spent. I thought Master gave you all lessons on modern banking?"

"He did," Maahnoor said, "but without practicing right away, most of us have forgotten what we learned."

"Do you at least know your PIN number. You need that to access your money, a four digit number that you don't share with anyone, unless you want them able to steal all of your money."

"I wrote it down someplace," Ateefah said, digging into a purse.

"You shouldn't write it down and keep it with your card. Never keep those two things together, or someone can steal all you have."

"Is crime that big of a problem?" Farah asked.

"It can be. And not all of the criminals are American. Some people from overseas will try to get your information to steal your money. We'll need to have a class about scamming, identity theft and the like. With your personal information, it's relatively easy for someone to clean out your bank accounts. If something sounds too good to be true, it is usually false. Please with someone you trust if anyone asks you for lots of money or your personal information, like date of birth, social security number, or any other information they have no business knowing."

I made sure they all had, or could remember their PIN numbers. Oh, this was so not going to be fun. We piled into the limousine hired for the job. Edgar was was along for the ride, loosely bodyguarding, but not driving. Fatima was taking her Captain's exam.

"Why are we going shopping for clothes before the food?" I asked.

"The food would spoil while we were shopping for clothes," Maahnoor said, our kitchen expert.

"Exactly. Some food needs to be kept cold or frozen, and it would be ruined by sitting in a hot car. When planning your shopping, it's important to remember that a certain order in buying things makes sense. When shopping for baby clothes, the sizes are usually tied to the age in months. So if your baby is five months old, you buy size five. Adult clothes don't work that way. And if a baby were bigger or smaller than a typical five month old baby, you'd buy larger or smaller sizes. Also remember that children are growing very fast now, so anything you buy now, may not fit in a month or two. You might want to buy slightly larger to start for that very reason."

"Are our babies typical?" Ateefah asked.

"To the best of my knowledge, they are. I'm sure Manuel would have said something to you if your babies were over or undersized. We're going to go to a very expensive clothing store first. Don't buy anything there, but I do want you to check the prices, so you can see what a wide disparity there is between stores. A lot of the price disparity is for ego, so you can say you bought such and such designer, or brag about how much you spent for an item, but it may bear little difference in either material or quality from an item in another store. Rich people will spend more than necessary to impress their friends, but it's not what you need."

"When you took me lingerie shopping, did you spend more than you needed to?" Sahar asked.

"I wasn't concerned about price. I shopped at a particular place because it was convenient and since I wasn't familiar with the area, shopped at the first available place that sold what I wanted. It being kind of touristy, meant we probably paid more than we needed to, but when you're shopping for lingerie, you tend to pay more when you're getting less. The sexier it is, the more expensive it becomes. Those ugly things Marilyn wore can be purchased real cheap, but I'd never want to see you in one of them."

Sahar laughed. "No, sexier is definitely better."

"We can get sexy for cheaper if I'm familiar with the area. We won't spend that amount of money again."

The first place we went to was a designer store. One skirt or blouse could set you back a couple hundred dollars minimum, and most were priced higher. I could see everyone checking out the prices on things. I think the clerks were nervous, because none of us were wearing clothes appropriate for someone shopping here normally, but we'd come in a limo, so we weren't turned away. I picked out something expensive for Sahar, just so we didn't walk out not spending a dime.

Maahnoor was looking at a dress that cost a couple thousand. "I'm not familiar with American money. Is this a lot?"

"It's ten times more than you are budgeted to spend on clothes. I imagine it's about half of what Henderson earns in one month?"

"People can afford to spend a half months wages on clothes?"

"People who shop here earn much more than Henry does. A lot of rich and famous people live in Los Angeles. This is where Hollywood is. Many movie stars live here. You remember Mrs. Thornhill from my wedding?"

"Yes."

"Mister Thornhill said she used to spend ten to fifteen times the price of this dress every month on clothes. That's likely close to what Henry earns in one year. Mr. Thornhill is very rich. He could afford it."

"Are you rich?"

"Not really. Not with money of my own. Master has a great deal of money, some of which I have access to if I need it, but I was poor by American standards. I probably had more than most of you had though, a lot of it borrowed. I owed the banks about a hundred thousand dollars to pay for my education. Master paid off my debt when I agreed to join him. I expect I'll live quite well from now on, although I intend to make my own money now, and live off Master as little as possible. Why don't you gather up the others and we'll go to the store where you'll be buy your things."

Fifteen minutes later, we were back in the limo, headed for a Target. Our freed slaves had been to the shopping mall in Oslo, getting clothes for the wedding, so they weren't totally unfamiliar with large stores, but Master had paid for everything then. Now they were shopping for themselves, including Sahar.

"I like jeans," she said. "A woman could never wear jeans in Oman."

"Muslims don't like their women exposing the shape of their legs. They were afraid it would make other men aroused. I'm not surprised. If you keep everything hidden all the time, and then show off your legs in jeans, it probably would make other men lust after you. If everyone is wearing jeans, it's not such a big deal."

"Will you wear jeans, now that you're a slave?"

"That's up to Master. He likes my cunt bare and accessible. When I go back to school, he might allow me some conveniences like jeans."

"I kind of like your cunt bare and accessible as well. Perhaps I'll tell him not to allow you jeans."

I laughed and kissed her. "I like yours bare and accessible too, but you can wear what you want. Try those on. They look like they'd be sexy on you."

I let them shop for clothes for roughly ninety minutes, then look around the store at other things and check their prices for another forty-five minutes, to see all of what was available. I tried to keep them together, but there was some herding involved, which Sahar and Edgar helped with. Everyone bought something with their money. I had to show them how to present their cards in the payment system, enter their PIN number to make their payments. I told everyone to put their name on the receipts and I collected them all.

"We're going to grade how well you stuck to your budget," I said, after collecting all of the receipts. "It's time to go grocery shopping. Pull out your lists and grab a shopping cart."

Soon, the ladies were wandering through the grocery isles looking for what they needed. I walked with Sahar, helping her find the items on her list. Oh, fuck! Possible trouble ahead. A young, tough looking white man looked like he was pestering Ateefah. He had his arm around her shoulders, being entirely too familiar with her. He had a shaved head and swastika and other white supremacy tattoos, a skinhead probably.

"Leave the cart here and follow me," I told Sahar and approached the two. Sahar followed right beside me, her eyes changing in a heartbeat from loving to dangerous.

"Ateefah, is this man bothering you?" I asked.

"Yes. I told him I was married. He's not listening to me."

He looked up, saw it was a couple of women, and said, "Fuck off. This is none of your business."

Edgar was also approaching, having spotted the same thing. He was coming up behind them both, their attention now focused on us.

"If you don't take your hands off her now, I'm going to break your arm," Sahar said, menacingly. She had that dead-eye, Great White shark look I'd seen before.

"You and what fucking army," he said, patting his waistband, showing the slight bulge of a firearm.

Edgar was standing behind him now. "Matey," he said, making him jump, "she doesn't need an army and if you touch that gun, she's got the right to snap your neck instead of your arm. I've seen her kill over twenty piss ants a lot tougher than you think you are. Now I'm going to take that gun out of your pants so you don't do anything stupid enough to die over. Take your arm off the married woman, put both your arms down by your sides. Are we clear? Nod if you understand, otherwise, I'm going to let her break your arm."

He looked over his shoulder at Edgar, not the biggest of the men on Master's ship, but imposing, nevertheless. He nodded, removed his arm off Ateefah and put his arms down at his sides. Edgar reached around and pulled an automatic out of his waistband.

"There's a good lad. You ought to thank me for saving your life," Edgar said, tucking the gun in his own waistband and pulling his shirt over it.

The guy looked back at Sahar and I think he finally saw it, the death in her eyes. He gulped.

"Even if you had gotten that pea shooter out in time, and I doubt you would have, because I've seen her move and she is deadly fast, I'd have had to kill you, because you don't fuck with our favorite women. Now, I've seen this woman cut off a gents cock and balls and stuff them down his throat. But she did a whole lot worse to him first, so he didn't die too quick. Now, I don't know what you thought you were going to get out of this little transgression of yours, but all you've done now is piss her off and lost your gun. You won't be getting it back. I'll be dropping it off at a police station with your name and address attached to it. I'd guess you better hope that gun has never been used in a crime, because they will come looking for you. If it has, and you know it, now might be a good time to leave town. Watch him, Sahar."

"With pleasure."

Edgar pulled the guys wallet, pulled his ID, took a photo of it, then handed it back. "Now if you're feeling really lucky, and I don't recommend it, we'll let you step outside with this woman and you can take your chances, but if she sees you again, I'd guess your goose is cooked. Are you walking, or do you feel lucky?"

"I'm walking."

"You're smarter than you look. Shove off."

Sahar grabbed his arm before he walked. It was like a striking snake. "You should let me break his arm, the one he had around this woman," Sahar said. "It's the only way stupid fucks like him learn." She squeezed his arm so hard he squealed. Sahar doesn't look muscle bound, but she was plenty strong.

"Then we have to give reports to the police and it fucks up the rest of our day," Edgar explained, patiently. "Wouldn't you rather spend the time fucking your wife than explaining to the police why you had to break the idiots arm?"

Sahar laughed and released his arm which he immediately started rubbing. "It's a good thing I love how she licks my pussy, shit for brains."

He didn't waste any more time leaving, gone like a shot.

"Damn it, Ateefah! You should have broken that asshole's arm the minute he put it on you. Beth, every day they're not in group, they're going to be working with me. I shouldn't have to defend them all the time. They should be able to defend themselves."

"I agree," I said. "We'll arrange it with the Captain and Master. I'll probably take more lessons with you as well. What did he want from you, Ateefah?"

"He wanted to fuck me. He said I could make good money as a whore."

"So a fucking pimp," Edgar said, "accosting a woman in a grocery store. What a dope. I suppose he thought being menacing was going to get him out of here without you raising a fuss."

"Is it always so bad here?" Ateefah asked.

"Not really," I said. "Just our unlucky day, I suppose. There are usually parts of large cities you want to stay out of because more criminality occurs there than usual, but this isn't a bad part of LA. I guess he thought you were alone and he could get away with it. A lot of young girls come to LA hoping to be movie stars, and they run out of money and out of luck, and end up becoming prostitutes, but guys like him would usually hang around bus stations and train stations looking for fresh young faces, not grocery stores. Finish up your shopping. Try to stay with one other person, okay?"

"Before you leave the store, I've got some safety tips for all of you," Edgar said. "Don't leave until I give them to you."

We agreed and finished up our shopping. I collected the receipts again after everyone paid for their groceries.

Before exiting, Edgar talked to the others. "Ateefah had a little trouble with a pimp looking for ladies to be whores. Sahar and I ran him off. It's unlikely he'll cause more trouble, but he might have friends who think something should be done about it. Before you step outside the store, take a look around the parking lot. If everyone looks like they're busy going to and from their cars, that's good, but if you see a few men standing around looking like they've got nothing better to do, you want to keep an eye on them. I've already called for back up and there are a couple of Smitty's guys out there now, waiting to see if we need help. If you see anyone pull out a gun, you yell 'Gun', as loud as you can, then drop to the pavement. Everyone who hears someone shout 'Gun', drop to the ground.

"Don't worry about your purchases. We can always buy more stuff. What we can't replace is you, just get on the ground fast. If someone has a gun, there will be shooting and we don't want stray bullets to hit anyone. And as a general tip, creeps like that, look for young women all alone. If you're not with your husbands, always stick with one other person, man or woman. Two people are always harder to deal with than one. If someone tries to snatch you, scream your bloody heads off. Ateefah should have been screaming once that lad touched her. Raise a holy stink. Most criminals don't want to be caught, so if everyone is looking at them, they figure they should look for softer prey. Any questions?"

"I thought our problems were over once Mahmoud was gone," Hibbah said.

"It's unlikely he was looking for slaves like Mahmoud was. Women who could be cowed or desperate enough to be turned into prostitutes, is far more likely, but you kill a snake, another snake moves in to take its place. Human trafficking and slavery didn't end with Mahmoud. It got reduced. Small slavers will move in and become bigger slavers. There's too much money to be made for it to end completely. Humanity itself has to change for it to end. It's like drugs. Someone will sell drugs as long as someone is willing to pay for them. If everyone quits buying drugs, drug trafficking will end. If everyone stops buying humans, human trafficking will end. Not until that time. You're unlikely to be snatched off the street like you were before, but it's not impossible. Sahar is right. You should know how to protect yourself. Now take a look outside and tell me if you see anything to be concerned about."

We all looked around. It looked pretty normal to me. I looked to see if I could spot Ateefah's accoster, but I didn't see the fool, nor any obvious groups of young men standing around. I did see a couple other single guys with shaved heads though, bracketing the exits.

"There's a couple other skinheads out there," I said. "Not in groups, just single guys across from the store in a couple different rows."

Edgar laughed. "Good eye. Keep watching the fuckers."

A couple of other guys walked up on the two skinheads and it seemed like all they did was touch them and they dropped to the ground, twitching. Two vehicles pulled up, the two skinheads hastily loaded in and the vehicles drove off. Less than ten seconds elapsed. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed a thing it happened so fast. I wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been expecting something.

Edgar got a text message. He glanced down. "They don't see anything else obvious out there. When we leave the store, I've got the right quadrant front quadrant. Sahar, you've got the left front. If you see a gun, shoot to kill. You're protecting your main squeeze now."

"Don't worry, Edgar. She's safe with me."

"I'm not worried for her. I'm worried about doing paperwork."

Sahar laughed. She opened her purse and put her hand inside. "Let's go. You reminded me I wanted to do some fucking this afternoon."

We walked out of the store in a group and we didn't have any problems whatsoever. Life went on around us. When we got into the limousine, Edgar relaxed and told the driver to head for the nearest police station.